Revealed: Best and worst NSW IVF clinics

New data reveals which NSW IVF clinics achieved the greatest and least success. Search full list of clinics and compare results.

Exclusive: Women over 35 desperate for a baby are three times more likely to be successful at the highest performing IVF clinic in NSW, compared with the lowest performing.

And when it comes to those under 35, women are twice as likely to have a baby at the top performing clinic than the lowest, according to newest figures from the Federal Government’s yourivfsuccess website.

Our analysis found that Genea clinics dominate the top 10 performers in NSW, with Genea Liverpool in Sydney’s south west achieving the greatest success in the state and nationally for the under 35s, with 65.8 per cent having a live birth from an embryo transfer. The national average is 48 per cent.

Thomas Smith, 34, wife Gita, 35, live in Maroubra, with their baby boy James, five months. Thomas and Gita sought help from Monash IVF Bondi Junction.

In those aged 35 to 42, Genea Wollongong had the best results, with a success rate of 38 per cent. The national average is 26 per cent.

IVF Australia Wollongong was the lowest performer across both age groups with 28 per cent of those under 35 having a baby per embryo retrieval and implant, dropping to 11 per cent for those aged 35 to 42.

Dr Myvanwy McIlveen, from the Genea Medical Advisory Committee, attributed their success to science.

“The results show that IVF clinics that have invested in the quality of service and scientific innovation, consistently provide better outcomes,” Dr McIlveen said.

Independent University of NSW experts behind the data, looked at five performance measures.

From their results we produced two league tables of IVF success rates.

The first table shows Measure 1, the number of live births that resulted from the eggs (fresh or frozen) collected from women in 2020 that were fertilised and implanted as embryos in 2020 and 2021.

A second table shows Measure 5, a new measure introduced this year, looked at the number of pregnancies per treatment, using data from 2022.

Chief Scientific Officer at Monash IVF Prof Deirdre Zander-Fox said Measure 5 confirmed an embryo had been implanted and there was a sac, but did not confirm there was a foetal heartbeat.

“This measure gives results from 2022, while the other measures are from 2020 or 2021,” Prof Zander-Fox said. “Technology is moving so fast, so this measure is more relevant for couples.”

In the under 35s, Monash IVF Mildura in Victoria had the poorest results in that age group, with a success rate of 16.7 per cent. However, there were only 27 egg retrievals in that sample.

The smaller the sample, the more likely it is that just a few negative or positive results can skew the figures.

In older women, those aged 35 to 42, Queensland Fertility Group Mackay, Queensland, had the best results in the country, with 41.5 per cent of those who had eggs implanted having a baby, compared with IVF Australia – Wollongong, NSW, where 11 per cent achieved a live birth.

New mum Marilyn Sendeckyj was 34 when she and her partner Jesse Higginson were diagnosed with unexplained fertility and chose Monash IVF Clayton in Melbourne based on their doctor’s recommendation and the results on yourivfsuccess website.

“IVF is so taxing mentally and physically and when you’re investing that much, every percentage point counts,” Ms Sendeckyj, now 35, said.

The software consultant said she got pregnant on the first embryo transfer, producing Reynold, born a month ago, and they have three frozen embryos if they wanted to try for a second.

Meanwhile, Gita Smith, 35, and her husband Thomas, 38, from Maroubra, Sydney, chose Monash IVF Bondi based on different reasons; because it was close to home and the “warm feel” they got from the staff.

She said gynaecologist Dr Jenny Cook was like her “guardian angel” who encouraged her to try a third round of IVF with their last frozen embryo, just weeks after she underwent a second endometriosis operation.

“I was mentally and physically exhausted, but she said the time was now if I wanted the best chance of success and she was right,” Ms Smith said.

“James wouldn’t be here without her encouragement.”